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Strachan admits to feeling pressure

By Nic Evans

SOUTHAMPTON manager Gordon Strachan has revealed how he empathises with Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier and is worried about the pressure he faces in his job.

The former Coventry boss has already admitted that the Saints job would be his last as a&nbsp;manager, but revealed he wanted to stay in football, in the background.

Strachan said: "This is my last job as a manager.&nbsp; I want to do it for as long as I can, then I will retire.

"I will stay in football but avoid the high-profile, high-pressure positions."

Strachan has recently been in La Manga giving his squad a little break and added: "We got what we wanted out of it.&nbsp; The lads that had recently played a lot of games were able to have two days off to recharge their batteries.

"And then we had two days of hard work to re-energise them.&nbsp; Having heard what the weather was like here I think it was the right decision.&nbsp; I gather it was horrendous back home.

"It was a useful exercise and did us good after a very hard run during the past few weeks."

However, Southampton still face injury worries with James Beattie and Brett Ormerod out whilst Matthew Oakley, Rory Delap and Tahar El Khalej are struggling and Stuart Ripley is still some distance from full fitness.